Irish wedding blessings

Wedding blessings are found across many cultures. In the Irish culture, traditionally the father of the bride gives his blessing to the groom and the marital union. However, for the most part, Irish people don’t care for much formality and there isn’t a specific method for giving a blessing. Sometimes blessings are shared privately with the couple together, other times they may be shared with only the bride or just the groom. Other times they are offered publicly, and in some cases, they are used as a wedding toast such as, “May your neighbors respect you, may trouble neglect you, may the angels protect you, and may heaven accept you.”

Irish Wedding Prayer

May God be with you and bless you.

May you see your children's children.

May you be poor in misfortunes

and rich in blessings.

May you know nothing but happiness

from this day forward.

Irish wedding blessing poem

“May the Road Rise Up to Meet You” is a popular Irish wedding blessing poem which some historians attribute to Ireland's Saint Patrick. It’s origins come from the Gaelic phrase "Go n-éiri an bóthar leat," which translates to mean ‘may your journey be successful.’ However, the origins of this popular wedding blessing is really considered unknown and today is often presented in song.

“May the Road Rise Up To Meet You”

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

the rain fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Some couples choose to use a wedding blessing on their wedding invitations. And in the same way many couples write their own vows, writing your own poetic wedding prayers offers a similar opportunity, or have others in the wedding party write out blessings as gifts to the bride and groom. The result is a unique wedding ceremony rich in personal meaning that creates a new level of special memories that will be talked about for years to come and may even become a new tradition which blesses your family in the years ahead.

 

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Wedding veil styles of the 1900s

While some look at the bridal veil as a simple fashion accessory, choosing the right veil takes some consideration. For instance, if you’re choosing a beach venue, you certainly don’t want a long veil dragging behind you to get snagged on the boardwalk when you make your dramatic entrance. Along these lines, you also need to consider the hairstyle you have planned, and you want it to complement your dress.

In the past I’ve written about the history of the bridal veil from ancient times that includes the Greeks thinking the veil protected from evil spirits, and how in Medieval times brides sported the veil as a symbol of purity. Today some brides choose to go without the veil, and modern brides aren’t thinking about evil spirits or even what the veil represents, unless they are trying to find a bridal veil to fit the theme of their wedding.

Today, we’ll look at the history of bridal veil styles from the 1900s. While I mention trends of the day, remember that many brides still chose to go with a more traditional veil rather than follow a craze when it came to their wedding day.

Great Gatsby wedding fashion.

1920s

For those planning a Roaring 20s or Great Gatsby themed wedding, the bridal fashion of the time was most often designed using silk and decorated with flowers and leaves matching the flowers in the bridal bouquet. Cloche veils were very popular. Other common styles included headband veils or veils crafted from lace or silk worn over the head and shoulders.

1930s
In the 30s, brides wore tight fitting dresses and loosely-fitting veils which hung over their heads.

1940s

During the war years, rationing played a role even when it came to weddings. It wasn’t unusual for the same wedding dress and veil to make the rounds − worn by multiple brides. In the post-war years of the 1940s, small, birdcage veils became popular, which is currently a reemerging fashion trend.

1950s

In the 1950s, traditional veils gave way to the tight-fitting skullcap veil.

1960s

Bridal veils took on a more modern flare in the 60s. They tended to be shorter, some shoulder length or perhaps reaching about midway down the back. Instead of lace, they were often fashioned out of netting and fastened to a decorative headpiece secured with a comb.

60s netting fastened to decorative headpiece secured with a comb

1970s

The late 60s and into to 70s wedding veils returned to longer fluid styles with a bohemian air that mimicked the flower-power hippy look of the day.

1980s

For readers who were alive at the time, things were big in the 80s. We had big hair, and big shoulder-pads. Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married and the event was a media sensation with more than 750 million people from around the world tuning in to the first televised royal wedding. Her extravagant silk-and-taffeta gown was full, lavish, and what I’d call cinderellaish. But her veil! It was 40 feet long! I’ll never forget watching her and feeling that fairytales do come true as she entered St. Paul’s cathedral. I don’t know if she was the single catalyst for long veils, but it certainly was the trend in the 80s.

1988

1990s

In the 90s, brides wore big puffy sleeves and dresses decorated with heavy bead work. It was also a time when some brides decided to go without the veil altogether and in its place they wore a headpiece or hat.

The wedding veil tradition started back when veils were a commonplace fashion accessory. Today, wearing veils may be “old fashioned” but many brides feel it a necessary adornment on that special day. From among the trends of the past, if you look, you may you find inspiration to create your own look on your wedding day.

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Medieval wedding cake: Bride’s Pie

I've written about the evolution of the wedding cake tradition and how it started back in Roman times as a loaf of hearty bread broken over the bride's head, but today I want to take a look back to the medieval kitchen to another dish served as a precursor to the wedding cake we enjoy today -- the Bride's Pie.

Medieval wedding cake

If you’re thinking of a medieval theme for your wedding, it might be fun to consider a Bride’s Pie instead of a wedding cake, although I have to say your guests will really have to be as into acting out the medieval scenario as you are, or at the least have an adventuresome culinary spirit. The earliest recipe I could find for “Bride’s Pye” dates back to the Middle Ages and is found in the The Accomplisht Cook. The book is written in old English and terms and cuts of meat have changed since it was written, but I just had to include the original recipe for my readers in order to accentuate how much things have changed.

Medieval Kitchen

Before you read the recipe, let me offer a warning. It’s not a sweet dessert-type dish but a savory pie recipe and back then nothing went to waste. For instance, when the recipe calls for “sweet-breads” of veal, it is talking about the thymus or the pancreas from veal. Cock-combs are an edible flower. Most of the rest of the ingredients you'll recognize.

Medieval wedding cake was known as Bride's Pie

 

Bride’s pie recipe 1685

To make an extraordinary Pie, or a Bride Pye of several Compounds, being several distinct Pies on one bottom. Provide cock-stones and combs, or lamb-stones, and sweet-breads of veal, a little set in hot water and cut to pieces; also two or three ox-pallats blanch’t and slic’t, a pint of oysters, slic’t dates, a handful of pine kernels, a little quantity of broom buds, pickles, some fine interlarded bacon slic’t; nine or ten chestnuts rosted and blanch season them with salt, nutmeg, and some large mace, and close it up with some butter. For the caudle, beat up some butter, with three yolks of eggs, some white or claret wine, the juyce of a lemon or two; cut up the lid, and pour on the lear, shaking it well together; then lay on the meat, slic’t lemon, and pickled barberries, and cover it again, let these ingredients be put in the moddle or scollops of the Pye.

If you’re not quite adventuresome enough to go with this authentic recipe, you can always go with

Medieval wedding cake topper

 

the savory pie recipe of your choice. And to make this custom your own, why not eat it as the main dish and still enjoy a traditional wedding cake with a medieval wedding cake topper for dessert with your guests. It will still be a special way to make your wedding celebration unique and delicious.

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